CH3

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

a sense-making procedure in which we attempt to understand our environment so we can respond to it appropriately

Question 2

selection

Answer 2

the process of choosing which sensory information to focus on

Question 3

organization

Answer 3

the process by which one recognizes what sensory input represents

Question 4

interpretation

Answer 4

the act of assigning meaning to sensory information

Question 5

selective attention

Answer 5

consciously or unconsciously attending to just a narrow range of the full array of sensory information available

Question 6

primacy effect

Answer 6

the tendency to form a judgment or opinion based on the first information received

Question 7

recency effect

Answer 7

the tendency to form a judgment or opinion on the most recent information received

Question 8

cognitive representation

Answer 8

the ability to form mental models of the world

Question 9

schemas

Answer 9

cognitive structures that help us organize information

Question 10

prototype

Answer 10

a representative or idealized version of a concept

Question 11

script

Answer 11

a relatively fixed sequence of events that functions as a guide or template for communication or behavior

Question 12

categorization

Answer 12

a cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information

Question 13

label

Answer 13

a name assigned to a category based on one’s perception of the category

Question 14

stereotyping

Answer 14

creating schemas that overgeneralize attributes of a specific group

Question 15

frame

Answer 15

assumptions and attitudes that we use to filter perceptions to create meaning

Question 16

attribution theory

Answer 16

explanation of the processes we use to judge our own and others’ behavior

Question 17

attributional bias

Answer 17

a cognitive bias that refers to the systematic errors made when people evaluate or try to find reasons for their own and others’ behaviors

Question 18

self-serving bias

Answer 18

the tendency to give one’s self more credit than is due when good things happen and to accept too little responsibility for those things that go wrong

Question 19

fundamental attribution error

Answer 19

the tendency to attribute others’ negative behavior to internal causes and their positive behaviors to external causes

Question 20

overattribution

Answer 20

selecting an individual’s most obvious characteristic and using it to explain almost anything that person does

Question 21

cognitive complexity

Answer 21

the degree to which a person’s constructs are detailed, involved, or numerous

Question 22

constructs

Answer 22

categories people develop to help them organize information

Question 23

ethnocentrism

Answer 23

the tendency to view one’s own group as the standard against which all other groups are judged

Question 24

prejudice

Answer 24

experiencing aversive or negative feelings toward a group as a whole or toward an individual because she or he belongs to a group

Question 25

ego-defensive function

Answer 25

the role prejudice plays in protecting individuals’ sense of self-worth

Question 26

value-expressive function

Answer 26

the role played by prejudice in allowing people to view their own values, norms, and cultural practices as appropriate and correct

Question 27

cohort effect

Answer 27

the process by which historical events influence the perceptions of people who grew up in a given generation and time period

Question 28

social role

Answer 28

the specific position or positions one holds in a society